Taylorville gets $500K in state budget for tornado relief

Tuesday

The city of Taylorville is set to receive $500,000 in the newly approved state budget to help with its ongoing recovery from last year's devastating tornado.

Taylorville Mayor Bruce Barry said it's too early to determine exactly how the money will be used, although cleanup, Dumpster fees, and road, sidewalk and alley repairs will likely be in the plan.

“We’ll probably use this money to cut some trees down that people have called me on. A lot of the insurance companies won’t cut trees down for them,” he said.

The mayor said he'll meet with the Christian County Emergency Management Agency, including Taylorville Fire Chief Mike Crews, director of the EMA, to figure what costs are eligible to be funded with the state money.

On Dec. 1, an EF3 tornado hit Taylorville. More than 500 buildings were damaged, 34 were destroyed, and 66 received major damage, according to officials. Twenty-six people were injured. There were no fatalities.

Barry said he was made aware the money was part of the budget on Thursday and announced it at a city council meeting Monday night.

In the six months since the tornado hit, Barry has been in contact with both Gov. J.B. Pritzker and state Sen. Andy Manar, D-Bunker Hill.

“Each time I would speak with them they would both promise me funding was coming,” he said. “It’s great to hear the news.”

Manar said Barry did a good job making sure he was in touch with elected officials in Springfield.

“This is a result of his advocacy,” he said.

Manar said the federal government’s disaster formula is “punitive” to downstate Illinois.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s rules do not allow for smaller communities to access disaster relief funds, so small towns are left behind, Manar said.

“I felt (it was) important that state governments fill the gap that the federal government creates for small towns like Taylorville when a disaster hits,” he said.